Sit In The Dirt Kind Of Friends

Life is a beautiful gift — an extravagant touch of grace, from a great big and beautifully good God.

      I’m forever grateful for the gift of love God has graced me with in my life. Some of the sweetest loves I’ve known are treasures wrapped in human form, — friends, family, and strangers.

Safely tucked away, between the covers of my story, include chapters of great joy, celebration, and goodness. Other pages hold deep pain, loss, and loneliness. Then there are the repetitive stories of shame, fear, and uncertainty. All bound together and under-girded — by God’s grace and extravagant love.

Job, of the Bible, was no stranger to both God’s goodness and the sting of deep pain. We’ve heard how Job’s friends were not helpful to him in his time of need. I however, found the initial reaction to Job’s pain from his friends priceless.

Job’s Three Friends

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. 12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. Job 2:11-13 the Message

     Job’s friends heard of his suffering and inconvenienced themselves to be with him. They were not intimidated or scared away by what they saw. They identified with him, and joined in — without words — in the dirt, for seven days. That’s tenacity. That’s empathy. That’s love.

I’m here today because of those who “sat in the dirt” with me during my darkest of nights.

     God is not ashamed of Job’s story, — He’s not ashamed of ours either. He’s the author of our story. One that continues to be written.

     Job’s friends didn’t deny his pain and suffering. They weren’t intimidated by what they saw. There were no magic answer to Job’s grief. There were no words — only friends who were willing to sit in the dirt with him.

     I pray I will be that friend, — willing to sit in the dirt of life alongside those who suffer. For there the sweetest of treasures are found.

Image – yousef-espanioly